Sin-A-Gogue

by David Bashevkin

  355. Gordon A. Craig, “On the Pleasure of Reading Diplomatic Correspondence,” Journal of Contemporary History 25, no. 3/4 (1991): 369–384.

  356. Haym Soloveitchik, “Three Themes in the ‘Sefer Hasidim,’” AJS Review, 1, no. 1 (1976): 315.

  357. Haym Soloveitchik, “Re-evaluation of Eleventh-Century Ashkenaz,” in Collected Essays vol. II (Portland, OR: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2014), 104–105.

  358. Talya Fishman, “The Penitential System of Hasidei Ashkenaz and the Problem of Cultural Boundaries,” The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 8 (1999): 201–229.

  359. Ibid., 222.

  360. On the difficulty of precisely identifying adherents to the school of Hasidei Ashkenaz, see Ephraim Kanarfogel, “German Pietism in Northern France: The Case of R. Isaac of Corbeil,” in Hazon Nahum: Studies in Jewish Law, Thought, and History Presented to Dr. Norman Lamm on the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday, eds. Yaakov Elman and Jeffrey Gurock (New York: Yeshiva University Press, 1997), 207–227.

  361. Teshuvot Mahari Weil 123.

  362. Ibid., 12.

  363. For an English synopsis of the aforementioned responsa, see Louis Jacobs, Theology in the Responsa (Portland, OR: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2005), 101–102.

  364. Michael Rosen, The Quest for Authenticity: The Thought of Reb Simhah Bunim (Jerusalem: Urim Publications, 2008), 27. For some of the relevant academic discussions as to the precise contribution of the Baal Shem Tov see ibid.n1.

  365. See https://twitter.com/DBashIdeas/status/517164309915639809.

  366. Louis Jacobs, Their Heads in Heaven: Unfamiliar Aspects of Hasidism (Portland, OR: Vallentine Mitchell, 2005), 76. For more discussion of the role of the Tzadik in the thought of Rabbi Elimelekh of Lizhensk, see also Ada Rapoport-Albert, “God and the Zaddik as the Two Focal Points of Hasidic Worship,” History of Religions 18, no. 4 (May 1979): 321.

  367. Rabbi Elimelekh of Lizhensk’s Noam Elimelekh to Metzora as translated in Rabbi Norman Lamm, The Religious Thought of Hasidism (Hoboken, NJ: Ktav Publishing House, 1999), 356–357. See there for more discussions of Rabbi Elimelekh’s conception of the Tzadik.

  368. For more on the approach of Rabbi Shneur Zalman to sin, see Rabbi Dr. Ariel Evan Mayse, “The Sacred Writ of Hasidism: Tanya and the Spiritual Vision of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liady” in Books of the People: Revisiting Classic Works of Jewish Thought, ed. Stuart Halpern (Jerusalem: Maggid Books, 2017), 109–156.

  369. Shaul Magid, “The Absence of God in Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav’s ‘Likkutei MoHaRan’,” The Harvard Theological Review 88, no. 4 (Oct. 1995): 503. This, of course, is far from a comprehensive overview of Rabbi Nahman’s approach to sin and repentance. Such a disclaimer is practically absurd given the brevity of his treatment here and the expansiveness of his own writing. For more secondary literature on Rabbi Nahman’s approach to sin and repentance, see Arthur Green’s discussion of the role of confession in Rabbi Nahman’s writing in his Tormented Master: The Life and Spiritual Quest of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav, Third Printing (Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004), 60n79.

  370. See chapter 4 in this work, “What to Wear to a Sin.”

  371. See Alan Brill, Thinking God: The Mysticism of Rabbi Zadok of Lublin (Jersey City, NJ: Ktav Publishing House, 2002), 146–168.

  372. Brill, 157.

  373. See Nodeh B-Yehudah, Orah Hayyim (Mahadura Kama) 35. For an English presentation of many of the details of Rabbi Landau’s response, see Louis Jacob’s Theology in the Responsa, 175–176.

  374. Nodeh B-Yehudah, Orah Hayyim (Mahadura Kama) 35.

  375. Ibid.

  376. For a fascinating comparison of the contributions of Rabbis Landau and Sofer, see Maoz Kahana, “Mi-Prag la-Pressburg: Ketivah Hilkhatit ba-Olam Mishtaneh me-ha’Node B-Yehudah’ el ha-‘Hatam Sofer’ 1730–1839” (PhD diss., Hebrew University, 2010).

  377. See Teshuvot Hatam Sofer, Orah Hayyim 1:173.

  378. Igrot Moshe vol. 6 at Orah Hayyim 4:115.

  379. For a discussion of the unique candor found in correspondence, see Marc B. Shapiro, “Scholars and Friends: Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg and Professor Samuel Atlas,” The Torah U-Madda Journal 7 (1997): 105–121. For a discussion on the ethics of examining personal rabbinic correspondence, see Rabbi Jacob J. Schachter’s follow up article, “Facing the Truths of History,” The Torah U-Madda Journal 8 (1998): 200–276. For another fascinating example of the analysis of Jewish correspondence, although more academic than rabbinic, see Shaul Magid, “Between Zionism and Friendship: The Correspondence between Gershon Scholem and Joseph Weiss,” The Jewish Quarterly Review 107, no. 3 (Summer 2017): 427–444.

  380. To add some confusion for the uninitiated reader, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein’s responsa are actually called Igrot Moshe, though nearly all of them are Halakhic responsa rather than rabbinic correspondence in the style of igrot. A notable exception, however, is the correspondence we referred to in the previous section, which bear the style of rabbinic correspondence rather than Halakhic correspondence.

  381. For a brief synopsis of Rabbi Kanievsky’s life, see Marc Shapiro’s aptly titled “Ha-Tamim: R’ Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, Ha-Steipler,” in The Gdoilim, ed. Benjamin Brown and Nissim Leon (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2017; Hebrew), 663–674. See also, Benjamin Brown’s biography on the Hazon Ish, Ha-Hazon Ish: Ha-Posek, Ha-Ma’amin, u-Manhig Ha-Mahapakha Ha-Haredit (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2011).

  382. Yaakov Mordekhai Greenwald, ed., Eitzot V-Hadrakhot: Meyusad al Mikhtivei Maran Baal ha-‘Kehilot Yaakov’ (Lakewood, NJ: Gottlieb Torah Graphics, 1991).

  383. Translation from David Greenberg and Eliezer Witztum, Sanity and Sanctity: Mental Health Work among the Ultra-Orthodox in Jerusalem (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001), 245, based on the letter of Rabbi Kanievsky found in Kreina d-Igrassa, vol. 1, ed. Avraham Yeshayahu Kanievski (Bnei Brak, Israel: Avraham Yeshayahu Kanievski, 2011), Letter 267.

  384. See Kreina d-Igrassa, Letters 105–114.

  385. Ibid., Letters 105, 128.

  386. Ibid., Letters 111, 136.

  387. Ibid., Letters 282 and 291.

  388. Pahad Yitzhak: Igrot U-Ketavim, Letter 112.

  389. Ibid.

  390. Ibid., Letter 155.

  391. See ibid., Letter 9.

  392. See ibid., Letter 96.

  393. Matt Potter, The Last Goodbye: A History of the World in Resignation Letters (London: Silvertail Books, 2016), ix.

  394. Irvin D. Yalom, Love’s Executioner & Other Tales of Psychotherapy (New York: Perennial Classics, 2000).

  SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

  A note on the bibliography: This book was intended for different audiences, both scholarly and general. I never paid much attention to bibliographies until I became involved in scholarship. Nonetheless we have provided a selected bibliography for scholars or curious readers who may want to see the works of others on this topic. The focus of this bibliography is on secondary literature cited within. Most classic rabbinic works such as the Talmud, Maimonides, and others that are readily available in Jewish study halls have been omitted. This was done mainly because popular classic Jewish works have so many different editions through the ages that including them would make perusing the bibliography somewhat cumbersome. I hope you enjoy the selection below.

  Allport, Gordon and Ross, J. Michael. “Personal Religious Orientation and Prejudice.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 5, no. 4 (1967): 432–443.

  Anderson, Carol. “The Experience of Growing Up in a Minister’s Home and the Religious Commitment of the Adult Child of a Minister.” Pastoral Psychology 46, no. 6 (1998).

  Anderson, Gary A. Sin: A History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010.

  Appiah, Kwame Anthony. Experiments in Ethics. Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2008.

  Assaf, David. “‘A Heretic Who Has No Faith in the Great Ones of the Age’: The Clash Over the Honor of the Or Ha-Hayyim.” Modern Judaism 29, no. 2 (2009): 194–225.


  ———Untold Tales of the Hasidim: Crisis & Discontent in the History of Hasidism. Lebanon, NH: Brandeis University Press, 2010.

  Bashevkin, David. “Life is Full of Failure. Bio Blurbs Should be Too.” First Things.

  ———B-Rogez Rahem Tizkor, Brooklyn: HaDaf Printing, 2015.

  ———“A Radical Theology and a Traditional Community: On the Contemporary Application of Izbica-Lublin Hasidut in the Jewish Community.” Torah Musings.

  ———“What to Wear to a Sin.” Torah Musings.

  ———“Letters of Love and Rebuke from Rav Yitzchok Hutner.” Tablet Magazine.

  ———“Rabbi’s Son Syndrome: Religious Struggle in a World of Religious Ideals.” Jewish Action 77, no. 4: 38–44.

  ———“Jonah and the Varieties of Religious Motivation.” Lehrhaus.

  Bazak, Jacob. “An Unsuccessful Attempt to Commit a Crime.” In Jewish Law Association Studies XVIII: The Bar-Ilan Conference Volume, ed. Joseph Fleishman. The Jewish Law Association, 2008.

  Blair, W. Granger. “Monk Sues in High Court in Israel for Right to Settle as a Jew.” New York Times, November 20, 1962.

  Blankovsky, Yuval. Het l-Shem Shamayim. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2017.

  Blau, Yitzchak. “Creative Repentance: On Rabbi Soloveitchik’s Concept of Teshuva.” Tradition 28, no. 2 (Winter 1994): 11–18.

  Boas, Franz. Handbook of American Indian Languages. Washington DC: Government Print Office, 1911.

  Brill, Alan. Thinking God: The Mysticism of Rabbi Zadok of Lublin. Jersey City, NJ: Ktav Publishing House, 2002.

  Broder, John M. “Familiar Fallback for Officials: ‘Mistakes were Made’.” New York Times, March 14, 2007.

  Brown, Benjamin. Ha-Hazon Ish: Ha-Posek, Ha-Ma’amin, u-Manhig Ha-Mahapakha Ha-Haredit. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2011.

  Brown, Benjamin and Leon, Nissim, eds. The Gdoilim. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2017.

  Brown, Erica. Jonah: The Reluctant Prophet. Jerusalem: Maggid Books, 2017.

  Büchler, A. Studies in Sin and Atonement in the Rabbinic Literature of the First Century. London: Oxford University Press, 1928.

  Cameron, Samuel. The Economics of Sin: Rational Choice or No Choice at All? Northhampton, MA: Edgar Elgar Publishing, 2002.

  Chinski, Eric. “Brian Christian on ‘The Most Human Human.’” The Paris Review. Last modified March 14, 2011. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2011/03/14/brian-christian-on-the-most-human-human/.

  Chödrön, Pema. When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 1997.

  Christian, Brian. The Most Human Human. New York: Doubleday, 2011.

  Cohen, Aviezer. “Self-Consciousness in Mei ha-Shiloah as the Nexus Between God and Man.” PhD diss., Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 2006.

  Cohen, Hermann. Religion of Reason: Out of the Sources of Judaism, trans. Simon Kaplan. New York: Frederick Unger, 1972.

  Collis, John W. Seven Fatal Management Sins: Understanding and Avoiding Managerial Malpractice. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press LLC, 1998.

  Coombs, W. Timothy. Ongoing Crisis Communication: Planning, Managing, and Responding. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2012.

  Cooper, Alan. “A Medieval Jewish Version of Original Sin: Ephraim Luntschitz on Leviticus 12.” Harvard Theological Review 97, no. 4 (October 2004): 445–459.

  Cosgrove, Elliot. “Religion Beyond the Limits of Reason Alone.” In Go Forth! Selected Sermons by Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove. Park Avenue Synagogue, 2013.

  Coudert, Allison P. The Impact of the Kabbalah in the Seventeenth Century: The Life and Thought of Francis Mercury van Helmont. Leiden: Brill, 1999.

  Crane, Jonathan K. “Shameful Ambivalences: Dimensions of Rabbinic Shame.” AJS Review 35, no. 1 (April 2011): 61–84.

  Craig, Gordon A. “On the Pleasure of Reading Diplomatic Correspondence.” Journal of Contemporary History 25, no. 3/4 (1991): 369–384

  Delumeau, Jean. Sin and Fear: The Emergence of a Western Guilt Culture 13th-18th Centuries. Translated by Eric Nicholson. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990

  Duckworth, Angela. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. London: Vermilion, 2016.

  Eleff, Zev. “Psychohistory and the Imaginary Couch: Diagnosing Historical Biblical Figures.” Journal of The American Academy of Religion 80, no. 1 (March 2012): 94–136.

  Elman, Yaakov. “R. Zadok Hakohen on the History of Halakhah.” Tradition 21, no. 4 (Fall 1985): 1-26.

  ———“Reb Zadok Hakohen of Lublin on Prophecy in the Halakhic Process.” Jewish Law Association Studies 1 (1985): 1–16.

  ———“The History of Gentile Wisdom According to R. Zadok ha-Kohen of Lublin.” Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 3, no. (1993): 153–187.

  ———“Progressive Derash and Retrospective Peshat: Nonhalakhic Considerations in Talmud Torah.” In Modern Scholarship in the Study of Torah: Contributions and Limitations, ed. Shalom Carmy. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1996.

  ———“The Rebirth of Omnisignificant Biblical Exegesis in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.” Jewish Studies Internet Journal 2 (2003): 199–249.

  Epstein, Joseph. “The Art of Biography.” The Wall Street Journal, January 1, 2016.

  Ettinger, Shmuel. “The Hasidic Movement - Reality and Ideals.” In Essential Papers on Hasidism: Origins to Present, ed. Gershon David Hundert. New York: New York University Press, 1991.

  Fairstein, Morris M. All Is in the Hands of Heaven: The Teaching of Rabbi Mordechai Joseph Liener of Izbica. Hoboken, NJ: Ktav Publishing House, 1989.

  ———“Kotsk-Izbica Dispute: Theological or Personal?” Kabbalah 17 (2008): 75–79.

  Feiler, Bruce. “The Stories that Bind Us.” New York Times, March 15, 2013.

  Festinger, Leon. When Prophecy Fails. London: Pinter and Martin Ltd., 2008.

  Finkelman, Yoel. Strictly Kosher Reading. Brighton, MA: Academic Studies Press, 2011.

  First, Mitchell. Esther Unmasked. New York: Kodesh Press, 2015.

  Fischer, Elli. “The Patron Saint of Rabbi’s Kids.” Lehrhaus. December 1, 2017.

  Fishman, Talya. “The Penitential System of Hasidei Ashkenaz and the Problem of Cultural Boundaries,” The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 8 (1999): 201–229

  Fivush, Robyn, Bohanek, Jennifer G., and Duke, Marshall. “The Intergenerational Self: Subjective Perspective and Family History.” In Self Continuity: Individual and Collective Perspectives, ed. Fabio Sani. New York: Psychology Press, 2008.

  Foot, Philippa. “The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect.” Oxford Review 5 (1967): 5–15.

  Fraade, Steven D. “The Innovation of Nominalized Verbs in Mishnaic Hebrew as Marking an Innovation of Concept.” In Studies in Mishnaic Hebrew and Related Fields. Edited by Elitzur A. Bar-Asher Siegal and Aaron J. Koller. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2017.

  Fraenkel, Avinoam. Nefesh HaTzimtzum, Vol. 1: Rabbi Chaim Volozhin’s Nefesh HaChaim with Translation and Commentary. Jerusalem: Urim Publications, 2015.

  Fredriksen, Paula. Sin: The Early History of an Idea. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012.

  Garb, Jonathan. “Shame as an Existential Emotion in Modern Kabbalah.” Jewish Social Studies 21, no. 1 (Fall 2015): 89–122.

  Garvey, Stephen P. “Punishment as Atonement.” UCLA Law Review 46, no. 6 (August 1999): 1801–1858.

  Genichovsky, Avraham. Agan ha-Sahar (Mahadura Shlishit). Edited by Rabbi Shmuel Fish. Israel: 2013.

  Goshen-Gottstein, Alon. The Sinner and the Amnesiac: The Rabbinic Invention of Elisha ben Abuya and Eleazar ben Arach. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000.

  Graham, Franklin. Rebel with a Cause. Nashville, TN:Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995.

  Green, Arthur. Tormented Master: The Life and Spiritual Quest of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004.

  Greenbaum, Avraham. Tzadik: A Portrait of Rabbi Nachman. Jerusalem: Breslov Research Institute, 1987.

  Greenberg, David and Eliezer Witztum
. Sanity and Sanctity: Mental Health Work among the Ultra-Orthodox in Jerusalem. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001.

  Greenwald, Yaakov Mordekhai, ed. Eitzot V-Hadrakhot: Meyusad al Mikhtivei Maran Baal ha-“Kehilot Yaakov.” Lakewood, NJ: Gottlieb Torah Graphics, 1991.

  Grossman, Meir Zvi. “Le-Mashmuatam shel ha-Bituyim ‘aveirah’ ve-‘dvar aveirah’ bi-Leshon Hakhamim.” Sinai 100, no. 1 (1987).

  Halbertal, Moshe. People of the Book. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997.

  ———“Mavet, Het, Hok, ve-Geulah be-Mishnat ha-Ramban.” Tarbiz 71, no. 1/2 (2002): 133–162.

  Harvey, Giles. “Cry Me a River: The Rise of the Failure Memoir.” New Yorker, March 25, 2013.

  Haushofer, Johannes. “CV of Failures: Princeton Professor Publishes Resume of His Career Lows.” The Guardian, April 29, 2016.

  Hearit, Keith Michael. Crisis Management by Apology. New York: Routledge, 2010.

  Heber, Tzvi. “Aveirah l-Shem Shamayim.” Ma’aliot 21 (1999).

  Hefter, Herzl. “’In God’s Hands’: The Religious Phenomenology of R. Mordechai Yosef of Izbica.” Tradition 46, no. 1 (Spring 2013): 43–65.

  Higger, Michael. “Intention in Talmudic Law.” PhD diss., Columbia University, 1927.

  Hirschler, Shimon. Yehudah le-Kadsho. Tel Aviv: Shem Olam, 1999.

  Hoffman, Lawrence A. ed. We Have Sinned: Sin and Confession in Judaism. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2012.

  Hofstadter, Douglas and Sander, Emmanuel. Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking. New York: Basic Books, 2013.

  Holtz, Barry W. Rabbi Akiva: Sage of the Talmud. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2017.

  Hume, David. The Natural History of Religion. London: A. and H. Bradlaugh Bonner, 1889.

  Jacobs, Alan. Original Sin: A Cultural History. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008.

  Jacobs, Louis. Theology in the Responsa. Portland, OR: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2005.

  ———“Attitudes Towards Christianity in the Halakhah.” In Judaism and Theology: Essays on the Jewish Religion. Portland, OR: Vallentine Mitchell, 2005.

  ———Their Heads in Heaven: Unfamiliar Aspects of Hasidism. Portland, OR: Vallentine Mitchell, 2005.